Making the most of our talent

Aarhus University has just published a booklet entitled Alle talenter skal i spil (“Making the most of our talent”) on the subject of equal-opportunity initiatives at the university in 2009. The booklet contains a series of articles with good advice about how to promote equal opportunities at Aarhus University. There is also a suggested plan of action regarding how to achieve equal opportunities. This will help our main academic areas, which have undertaken to draw up an equal-opportunity plan and identify specific goals for the gender balance at PhD, assistant professor, postdoc and professor level by the end of 2009.

The booklet has been produced by the Aarhus University task force for equal opportunities, and will be sent to the main academic areas and administration departments in the near future.

Record number of admissions

So far 5,359 applicants have accepted a place on a Bachelor’s degree programme at Aarhus University this year. This means that after only the first round of admissions the number of new students has already surpassed the record year of 2007. The University Studies Office is currently processing about 500 applicants who have applied for admission in round two, and so far places have been offered to 290 of these applicants. After the first round the number of degree programmes with vacancies was just over 40 – but now this has been reduced to about 30.

We do not yet have the figures for Master’s degree programmes, but expect to admit about 1,000 Master’s degree students at Aarhus University as a whole. The university expects to admit a total of at least 6,500 new students in 2009, which is a record. The final admissions figures will not be available until October.

Visit by international evaluation panel on 25 August

The international evaluation panel will be visiting Aarhus University on 25 August from 08.30 to 12.15. During this visit the panel will be meeting the chairman of the board and the Vice-Chancellor’s Office – as well as representatives of the academic staff, the technical and administrative staff, and the students.

In connection with the visit, the Vice-Chancellor’s Office will be underlining the following themes: successful mergers and wishes for the future; the framework and limitations of the Danish Universities Act; the balance between basic research funding and competitive public research funding, including basic research funding for sector research; limitations of freedom with regard to our degree programmes; and the freedom of speech and academic freedom.

Read more about Aarhus University’s evaluation report, Aarhus University’s representatives, the programme for the visit and the members of the evaluation panel at: http://www.au.dk/da/uni/universitetsevaluering2009

You can also visit the homepage http://www.ubst.dk/institutioner-og-okonomi/universitetsevalueringen-i-2009 for more information about the evaluation, including Carpacent’s reports, which have just been published.

New committee for internationalisation

The new internationalisation strategy and organisation of this area was finalised during the summer. The new organisation comprises not only the International Centre but also a Committee for Internationalisation. This committee will be the central forum for knowledge sharing, concept development, and joint decisions linked to implementing the strategy for internationalisation.

The members and chair of the committee will be appointed by the Vice-Chancellor on the recommendation of the main academic areas. The new committee replaces the previous international committee. The Aarhus University Committee for Internationalisation expects to hold its first meeting in mid-September.

The strategy for internationalisation can be seen at http://www.au.dk/da/strategi

Report on working environment at Danish School of Education

A report on the psychological working environment at the Danish School of Education (DPU) has now been published. This is later than the reports produced for the other main academic areas, owing to structural changes at DPU. The report shows that DPU faces the same general challenges as the rest of Aarhus University. DPU will now focus on four areas in particular: commitment and pressure at work must not result in exhaustion and stress; recognition and conflict solution are important; concerned and clear management are vital; and information must be provided about challenges and changes, including involvement in decision-making processes. The various units at DPU have now started to hold dialogue meetings with staff. The goal is to draw up a general plan of action for the working environment at DPU before the turn of the year.

For more information please see http://www.arbejdsmiljo.au.dk/apv08

Criticism of McKinsey report by Universities Denmark

Following a round of hearings at our universities, the organisation known as Universities Denmark has now formally submitted its response regarding the McKinsey report to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. This response contains constructive and sharp criticism of the McKinsey report, which Universities Denmark describes as “inadequate grounds for a political decision” and “misleading”.

Read Universities Denmark’s response to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation at http://dkuni.dk

New statistics about our universities

For the fourth year in a row statistics have now been produced for the core activities of Danish universities. The figures show that 6,271 PhD scholars were registered at Danish universities in 2008, which is 8 per cent more than in 2007. The biggest increase is at Aarhus University, where the figure increased by 20 per cent during the same period. The statistics also show that Aarhus University’s international growth is significantly larger than the average for the other Danish universities.

In 2008 there were 1,031 non-Danish students on exchange at Aarhus University, which is 27 per cent more than the previous year. And Aarhus University also sent 10 per cent more students abroad (a total of 815 individuals) to international universities. The number of non-Danish students taking an entire degree programme at Aarhus University has also increased significantly: a total of 2,365 students from Europe and the rest of the world were registered for a degree programme at Aarhus University in 2008, which is 16 per cent more than the previous year. The increases mean that more than 10 per cent of the students at Aarhus University now come from abroad. Read more about the drop-out rate, admissions, research, buildings, income etc. in the university’s statistics.

Vacant seats for the annual celebration

There are still some vacant seats for the evening event at the Aarhus Concert Hall. Remember that the final deadline is 20 August. The first people to sign up will be given a seat in the Store Sal theatre – everyone else will be seated in the Symfonisk Sal theatre, where there will be a transmission from the entertainment in Store Sal . So far about 1,700 people have signed up for the evening event, which includes not only entertainment but also a buffet supper afterwards.

You can sign up at www.kongreskompagniet.dk/au2009-c

Aarhus University and the Festival Week

This year Aarhus University and Danish University Extension ( Folkeuniversitetet ) are taking part in the Aarhus Festival Week for the first time ever – in the City Hall. You can ask the university about everything from the stars and the earth to love, women and happiness. See more at http://science.au.dk/foredrag


Kind regards
The Vice-Chancellor’s Office
18 August 2009

The Vice-Chancellor’s Office publishes News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office every Tuesday – apart from holidays and public holidays. This newsletter includes a brief description of current activities and discussions. You can sign up for the Danish version of the newsletter at http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve, after which you will receive an e-mail whenever the newsletter is issued.
If you would like to subscribe to the English version of News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office, please go to http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve/index.asp?sprog=en . The English version of News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office is published every Wednesday and is available at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/rectorate/newsletter
You can read previous editions of News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/rectorate/newsletter/2009 .